Details
The Indian Railway Ministry is all set to approve one of their most ambitious projects of a 240 km broad-gauge railway line connecting Port Blair with Diglipur on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Once the project is accomplished, it is going to be the first archipelago in the country to be observed on the rail map.
At present, the island is connected with a 350 km bus service that takes around 14 hours to reach and also via waterway that takes around 24 hours, however, there is no air connectivity. According to the ministry’s Planning and Finance directorates, the project is desirable because “it is unique, away from the mainland, and has tourism potential.”
Tourism Prospects
Jagdish Mukhi, Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, quoted,“As soon as the line is commissioned, tourism will see a jump from the current 4.5 lakh visitors a year to around 6 lakhs a year, as per our estimates.”
Some of the major tourist attractions in Diglipur are the Ross and Smith islands, which attract a large number of tourists every year. After the railway line will be placed, the connectivity to these places will increase and thus would benefit the tourists, local residents, and the defence forces.
Estimated Cost
According to the internal survey report of the ministry, the estimated cost of the railway line will be Rs 2,413.68 crore.
